DOCSLIB.ORG

Ten Answers About Evolution Critical Thinking and Parenting Hollywood

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Moving Science’s Goalposts | Climate Report | Roswell at 70 | Human Germline Editing | Anti-Vax Arguments the Magazine for Science and Reason Vol. 41 No.6 | November/December 2017 Ten Answers REVIEWS: about Evolution Inconvenient Sequel Gardner and Truzzi Critical Thinking Food Evolution and Parenting Nail in Nessie’s Coffin Hollywood Curse Legends A Pioneer Published by the Center for Inquiry in association with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Science Communicator a program of the Robyn E. Blumner, President and CEO Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow www.csicop.org Fellows James E. Al cock*, psy chol o gist, York Univ., Tor on to David H. Gorski, cancer surgeon and re searcher at Barbara Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Mar cia An gell, MD, former edi tor-in-chief, Ann Kar manos Cancer Institute and chief of breast surgery Astronomy and director of the Hopkins New Eng land Jour nal of Med i cine section, Wayne State University School of Medicine. Observatory, Williams College Kimball Atwood IV, MD, physician; author; Newton, MA Wendy M. Grossman, writer; founder and first editor, John Pau los, math e ma ti cian, Tem ple Univ. Steph en Bar rett, MD, psy chi a trist; au thor; con sum er ad vo cate, The Skeptic magazine (UK) Clifford A. Pickover, scientist, au thor, editor, IBM T.J. Watson Al len town, PA Sus an Haack, Coop er Sen ior Schol ar in Arts and Re search Center. Willem Betz, MD, professor of medicine, Univ. of Brussels Sci en ces, professor of phi los o phy and professor Massimo Pigliucci, professor of philosophy, of Law, Univ. of Mi ami Ir ving Bie der man, psy chol o gist, Univ. of South ern CA City Univ. of New York–Lehman College Harriet Hall*, MD, physician; investigator, Puyallup, WA Sus an Black more, vis it ing lec tur er, Univ. of the West of Stev en Pink er, cog ni tive sci en tist, Harvard Univ. David J. Helfand, professor of astronomy, Eng land, Bris tol Mas si mo Pol id oro, sci ence writer; au thor; ex ec u tive Columbia Univ. Sandra Blakeslee, science writer; author; New York Times di rect or of CI CAP, It a ly Terence M. Hines, prof. of psychology, Pace Univ., science correspondent Pleasantville, NY James L. Powell, geochemist, author, professor; executive di- rector, National Physical Science Consortium; retired college Mark Boslough, physicist, Sandia National Laboratories, Doug las R. Hof stad ter, pro fes sor of hu man Albuquerque, NM un der stand ing and cog ni tive sci ence, In di ana Univ. and museum president, Buellton, CA Anthony R. Pratkanis, professor of psychology, Univ. of CA, Hen ri Broch, physi cist, Univ. of Nice, France Ger ald Hol ton, Mal linc krodt Pro fes sor of Phys ics and pro fes sor Jan Har old Brun vand, folk lor ist; pro fes sor emer i tus of his to ry of sci ence, Har vard Univ. Santa Cruz of Eng lish, Univ. of Utah Ray Hy man*, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Or e gon Donald R. Prothero, paleontologist/geologist, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA Mar io Bunge, phi los o pher, McGill Univ., Montreal Stuart D. Jordan, NASA astrophysicist emeritus; Sean B. Carroll, molecular geneticist; vice president for science science advisor to Center for Inquiry Office of Public Benjamin Radford, investigator; research fellow, Commit- education, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Madison, WI Policy, Washington, DC tee for Skeptical Inquiry Thomas R. Casten, energy expert; founder, Recycled Energy Barry Karr, executive director, Committee for James “The Amazing” Randi, magician; CSICOP founding Development, Westmont, IL Skeptical Inquiry, Amherst, NY member; founder, James Randi Educational Foundation John R. Cole, an thro pol o gist; ed i tor, Na tion al Law rence M. Krauss, foundation professor, School Mil ton Ro sen berg, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Chic a go Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u ca tion of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics Dept.; Am ar deo Sar ma*, chairman, GWUP, Ger ma ny K.C. Cole, science writer; author; professor, Univ. of Southern director, Origins Initiative, Arizona State Univ. Richard Saunders, president, Australian Skeptics; educator; California’s Annenberg School of Journalism Ed win C. Krupp, as tron o mer; di rect or, investigator; podcaster; Sydney, Australia John Cook, research assistant professor, Center for Climate Grif fith Ob ser va to ry, Los Angeles, CA Joe Schwarcz, director, McGill Office for Science and Society Change Communication, George Mason University, Law rence Kusche, sci ence writer Virginia. Eu ge nie C. Scott*, phys i cal an thro pol o gist; chair, advisory Stephan Lewandowsky, psychologist, School of Experimental council , Na tion al Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u ca tion Fred er ick Crews, lit er ary and cul tur al crit ic; pro fes sor emer i tus Psychology and Cabot Institute, Univ. of Bristol, UK of English, Univ. of CA, Berkeley Seth Shostak, senior astronomer, SETI Institute, Scott O. Lil i en feld*, psy chol o gist, Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA Rich ard Dawk ins, zo ol o gist, Ox ford Univ. Mountain View, CA Lin Zix in, former ed i tor, Sci ence and Tech nol o gy Dai ly (Chi na) Simon Singh, science writer; broadcaster; UK Ge of frey Dean, tech ni cal ed i tor, Perth, Aus tral ia Je re Lipps, Mu se um of Pa le on tol o gy, Univ. of CA, Berke ley Dick Smith, entrepreneur, publisher, aviator, adventurer, Cor nel is de Ja ger, pro fes sor of as tro phys ics, Univ. of Utrecht, the Neth er lands Eliz a beth Loft us*, pro fes sor of psy chol o gy, Univ. of CA, Ir vine Terrey Hills, N.S.W., Australia Keith E. Stanovich, cognitive psychologist; professor of Dan i el C. Den nett, Aus tin B. Fletch er Pro fes sor of Phi los o phy Daniel Loxton, author, editor of Junior Skeptic at Skeptic maga- and di rect or of Cen ter for Cog ni tive Stud ies, Tufts Uni v. zine (US), artist, Vancouver, B.C., Canada human development and applied psychology, Uni v. of Toronto Ann Druyan, writer and producer; CEO, Cosmos Studios, Da vid Marks, psy chol o gist, City Univ., Lon don Karen Stollznow*, linguist; skeptical investigator; writer; Ithaca, NY Mar io Men dez-Acos ta, jour nal ist and sci ence writer, Mex i co podcaster Sanal Edamaruku, president, Indian Rationalist City Association and Rationalist International Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology, Brown Univ. Jill Cor nell Tar ter, as tron o mer, SE TI In sti tute, Moun tain View, CA Edzard Ernst, professor, Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Da vid Mor ri son, space sci en tist, NA SA Ames Re search Cen ter Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Rich ard A. Mul ler, pro fes sor of phys ics, Univ. of CA, Berke ley Car ol Tav ris, psy chol o gist and au thor, Los Ange les, CA Exeter, UK Joe Nick ell, sen ior re search fel low, CSI Da vid E. Thom as*, phys i cist and math e ma ti cian, Socorro, NM Ken neth Fed er, pro fes sor of an thro pol o gy, Jan Willem Nienhuys, mathematician, Waalre, Neil de Gras se Ty son, as tro phys i cist and di rect or, Cen tral Con nec ti cut State Univ. The Netherlands Hay den Plan e tar i um, New York City Krista Federspiel, science journalist, expert on complementary Lee Nis bet, phi los o pher, Med aille Col lege Indre Viskontas, cognitive neuroscientist, TV and podcast host, and alternative medicine, Vienna, Austria. Steven Novella*, MD, assistant professor and opera singer, San Francisco, CA Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy, SE Louisiana Univ. of neurology, Yale Univ. School of Medicine Stuart Vyse, psychologist, former Joanne Toor Cummings An drew Fra knoi, as tron o mer, Foot hill Col lege, Los Al tos Hills, CA Bill Nye, sci ence ed u ca tor and tel e vi sion host, Nye Labs ’50 professor of psychology, Connecticut College; author Kend rick Fra zi er*, sci ence writer; ed i tor, Skep ti cal In quir er James E. Oberg, sci ence writer of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition Christopher C. French, professor, Department Irm gard Oe pen, pro fes sor of med i cine (re tired), Ma ri lyn vos Sa vant, Pa rade mag a zine con trib ut ing ed i tor Mar burg, Ger ma ny of Psychology, and head of the Anomalistic Psychology Stev en Wein berg, pro fes sor of phys ics and as tron o my, Univ. of Paul Offit, professor of pediatrics, director of the Vaccine Educa- Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, Univ. of London Tex as at Aus tin; No bel lau re ate Julia Galef, host of the Rationally Speaking podcast; tion Center, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia cofounder, Center for Applied Rationality, Berkeley, CA Naomi Oreskes, geologist and professor, departments of the E.O. Wil son, Univ. pro fes sor emer i tus, organismic and evolu- Luigi Garlaschelli, chemist, Università di Pavia (Italy); History of Science and Earth and Planetary Sciences, tionary biology, Har vard Univ. research fellow of CICAP, the Italian skeptics group Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA Rich ard Wis e man, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Hert ford shire, Maryanne Garry, professor, School of Psychology, Victoria Lor en Pan kratz, psy chol o gist, Or e gon Health England Univ.
Recommended publications
  • Ghostly Molds How to Make a Plaster Cast of Your Hand, Even If You Are Not a Spirit

    Ghostly Molds How to Make a Plaster Cast of Your Hand, Even If You Are Not a Spirit

    SI M-A 2009 pgs 1/27/09 11:40 AM Page 22 NOTES ON A STRANGE WORLD MASSIMO POLIDORO Ghostly Molds How to make a plaster cast of your hand, even if you are not a spirit ince the early days of Spiritualism, public became aware of their existence porters of this method agree that it is when mediums began producing thanks also to articles in popular maga- possible to reproduce hands of different S physical phenomena, paraffin-wax zines such as Scientific American. sizes and shapes and that the glove molds supposedly modeled around mate- Some of the plaster casts of these might be easily hidden on the medium’s rialized “spirit hands” during séances were molds are still preserved at the Institut body. To obtain such a glove showing considered some of the best pieces of evi- Mètapsychique International in Paris the hand’s fingerprints and its distinc- dence of the paranormal. (www.metapsychique.org), a fact that in tive lines, one should first impress a real Some of these molds, in fact, seem- part explains why the interest in the hand on dental wax, which allows a ed to possess the characteristics of phenomena periodically resurfaces. much sharper outline of the skin’s tex- “permanent paranormal objects.” The ture than plaster. This imprinting will at Alternatives to the Paranormal empty paraffin molds found at the con- once be used as a mold for making a clusion of séances, it was thought, Many (e.g., Coleman 1994a; 1995a) rubber glove showing all the typical could still be intact only because the have pointed out various possible nat- marks of a real hand.
  • Pod of Jake #67 – Julia Galef Ai-Generated Transcript 1

    Pod of Jake #67 – Julia Galef Ai-Generated Transcript 1

    POD OF JAKE #67 – JULIA GALEF AI-GENERATED TRANSCRIPT Jake 00:59 Thank you so much, Julia, for taking the time and joining me on the show today. I really appreciate it and looking forward to this conversation for some time. And I've actually listened to your podcast a bunch in the past. Most recently. Yeah, your episode with metallic. So funny must be funny to be on the other side of the microphone. Yeah. But thank you for coming on, I think the best place to get started would be for those who don't know you to tell your story a little bit. And then we'll spend a lot of time talking about your book, which recently came out. Julia Galef 01:29 Sounds good. Thanks, Jake. Yes, it's good to be on the show. My story. Basically, for the last 10 years, I've just been devoted to this question of how do we improve human reasoning and decision making? And really interest in this question, both from a theoretical level? Like how do we think about what would ideal reasoning look like? Just almost philosophically, and also, just from a practical level? Like, what are the kinds of mistakes that the human brain tends to make and what kinds of situations and getting really into a lot of the cognitive science literature and kind of experimenting on real people like trying out techniques and seeing how well they work and, you know, talking to people about their experiences, noticing their own biases and things like that.
  • Modernism and Magic

    Modernism and Magic

    University of Huddersfield Repository Gledhill, Jennifer Modernism and Magic Original Citation Gledhill, Jennifer (2016) Modernism and Magic. Masters thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/29081/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ Modernism and Magic Jennifer Gledhill A Thesis Submitted to the University of Huddersfield in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA by Research January 2016 2 Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………3 Chapter One: Magicians and Spiritualism…………………………………………… 13 Chapter Two: Fasting and Spiritualism…………………………………………………. 36 Chapter Three: The Freak show and Spiritualism…………………………………. 54 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………….. 74 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………. 83 Word Count: 25316 3 Introduction This dissertation will look at how modernist writers incorporated the idea of fraud into their work through the use of popular culture spectacles.
  • El Esceptico

    El Esceptico

    escescel éépticoptico la revista para el fomento de la razón y la ciencia publicación trimestral nº 10 otoño-invierno 2000 El fin del hambre en el mundo Plausibilidad, trascendencia y la epidemia panspérmica Los caballeros de ninguna parte Entrevista a John Allen Paulos número extra Edita ARP - Sociedad para el Avance del Pensamiento Crítico PVP: 5,4 euros / 900 ptas. escel éptico la revista para el fomento de la razón y la ciencia ARP - Sociedad para el Avance del Pensamiento Crítico DIRECCIÓN Julio Arrieta PRESIDENTE Alfonso López Borgoñoz (coordinador) Félix Ares de Blas Víctor R. Ruiz VICEPRESIDENTE CONSEJO DE REDACCIÓN José Mª Bello Diéguez Félix Ares de Blas SECRETARIO Javier E. Armentia Ferran Tarrasa Blanes José Mª Bello Diéguez José Luis Calvo Buey TESORERO Luis Alfonso Gámez Alfonso López Borgoñoz Pedro Luis Gómez Barrondo DIRECTOR EJECUTIVO Borja Marcos Pedro Luis Gómez Barrondo SECCIONES VOCALES Primer Contacto,Pedro Luis Gómez Barrondo Luis Alfonso Gámez Mundo Escéptico, Sergio López Borgoñoz Borja Marcos Cuaderno de Bitácora,Javier Armentia Teresa González de la Fe Guía Digital, Ernesto Carmena Paranormalia, Julio Arrieta y Borja Marcos CONSEJO ASESOR De Oca a Oca, Félix Ares de Blas Alfonso Afonso Un marciano en mi buzón, Luis González Manso José María Alcaide Crónicas desde Magonia, Luis Alfonso Gámez Carlos Álvarez Sillón Escéptico, José Luis Calvo Buey Javier Armentia Julio Arrieta DELEGADO DE EDICIÓN Y DISTRIBUCIÓN José Luis Calvo Buey Alfonso López Borgoñoz Luis Capote COMPAGINACIÓN Y PRODUCCIÓN Ernesto Carmena Mercedes
  • CFI-Annual-Report-2018.Pdf

    CFI-Annual-Report-2018.Pdf

    Message from the President and CEO Last year was another banner year for the Center the interests of people who embrace reason, for Inquiry. We worked our secular magic in a science, and humanism—the principles of the vast variety of ways: from saving lives of secular Enlightenment. activists around the world who are threatened It is no secret that these powerful ideas like with violence and persecution to taking the no others have advanced humankind by nation’s largest drugstore chain, CVS, to court unlocking human potential, promoting goodness, for marketing homeopathic snake oil as if it’s real and exposing the true nature of reality. If you medicine. are looking for humanity’s true salvation, CFI stands up for reason and science in a way no look no further. other organization in the country does, because This past year we sought to export those ideas to we promote secular and humanist values as well places where they have yet to penetrate. as scientific skepticism and critical thinking. The Translations Project has taken the influential But you likely already know that if you are reading evolutionary biology and atheism books of this report, as it is designed with our supporters in Richard Dawkins and translated them into four mind. We want you not only to be informed about languages dominant in the Muslim world: Arabic, where your investment is going; we want you to Urdu, Indonesian, and Farsi. They are available for take pride in what we have achieved together. free download on a special website. It is just one When I meet people who are not familiar with CFI, of many such projects aimed at educating people they often ask what it is we do.
  • WILDLIFE APOCALYPSE How Myths and Superstitions Drive Animal Extinction

    WILDLIFE APOCALYPSE How Myths and Superstitions Drive Animal Extinction

    CBS Paranormal Segment | Changelings | UFO Conspiracies | Balles Award | ‘Flying Friar’ | Fake News Vol. 42 No. 4 | July/August 2018 the Magazine for Science and Reason WILDLIFE APOCALYPSE How Myths and Superstitions Drive Animal Extinction Skepticism Reloaded Cell Phones, Cancer, and Chance Lotus Birth Fad Speed Reading: Fact or Fiction? Skepticism and Literature Published by the Center for Inquiry with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Response to Flood Creationists Committee for Skeptical Inquiry www.csicop.orgwww.csicop.org Robyn E. Blumner, President and CEO Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow Fellows James E. Al cock,* psy chol o gist, York Univ., Kevin Folta, molecular biologist, professor and Law rence Kusche, sci ence writer Mas si mo Pol id oro, sci ence writer; au thor; Tor on to chair of Horticultural Sciences Department, Le on Le der man, emer i tus di rect or, Fer mi lab; ex ec u tive di rect or of CI CAP, It a ly Mar cia An gell, MD, former ed i tor-in-chief, University of Florida. No bel lau re ate in phys ics James L. Powell, geochemist, author, ex- New Eng land Jour nal of Med i cine Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy, SE Stephan Lewandowsky, psychologist, School ecutive director, National Physical Science Kimball Atwood IV, MD, physician; author; Louisiana Univ. of Experimental Psychology and Cabot Insti- Consortium Newton, MA An drew Fra knoi, astronomer, University of tute, Univ. of Bristol, UK Anthony R.
  • Volume 15, Number 2 March-April 2021

    Volume 15, Number 2 March-April 2021

    Volume 15, Number 2 March-April 2021 thereasoner.org ISSN 1757-0522 list. (Those were “Decision Theory without Representa- Contents tion Theorems” in 2014, published in Philosophers’ Imprint, and “Dr. Truthlove or: How I Learned to Stop Worry- Guest Editorial 9 ing and Love Bayesian Probabilities” in 2015, published in Noˆus.) Anyone interested in the social epistemology of math Features 9 should know Kenny’s work too: his “Probabilistic Proofs and Transferability” (Philosophia Mathematica, 2009) and News 14 “Rebutting and Undercutting in Mathematics” (Philosophi- cal Perspectives, 2015) are classics and personal favorites. What’s Hot in . 14 Kenny and I first crossed paths Events 15 at a conference in Paris while I Courses and Programmes 15 was a grad student. He joined my dissertation committee a little Jobs and Studentships 16 after that. Fortunately, Kenny is an easy person to keep in touch with: just go to any random phi- losophy conference and there’s a 63% chance he’s there. As you’ll see from our interview, he’s a terri- bly interesting person and a credit Guest Editorial to the profession. I’m happy to of- fer you his opinions on fractal mu- Salutations, reasoners. I’m delighted to be guest editor for this sic, Zoom conferences, being a good referee, teaching in math issue, featuring an interview with the man, the myth, the leg- and philosophy, the rationalist community and its relationship end, Kenny Easwaran. Kenny is a newly-minted Professor of to academia, decision-theoretic pluralism, and the city of Man- Philosophy at Texas A&M University.
  • Implications of Hyperactivity in Anorexia Nervosa : from Redefinition to Clinical Research Mélissa Rizk

    Implications of Hyperactivity in Anorexia Nervosa : from Redefinition to Clinical Research Mélissa Rizk

    Implications of hyperactivity in anorexia nervosa : from redefinition to clinical research Mélissa Rizk To cite this version: Mélissa Rizk. Implications of hyperactivity in anorexia nervosa : from redefinition to clinical research. Cognitive Sciences. Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2015. English. NNT : 2015USPCB091. tel- 01535867 HAL Id: tel-01535867 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01535867 Submitted on 9 Jun 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. - Année Paris Descartes University Ecole doctorale des 3C (Cerveau, Cognition, Comportement). Laboratory INSERM U 1178 Implications of Hyperactivity in Anorexia Nervosa From Redefinition to Clinical Research By Melissa Rizk Doctoral thesis in Cognitive Sciences Directed by Dr. Nathalie Godart Presented and publicly defended on November 5th 2015. Before a jury composed of: Dr. Grall-Bronnec, Marie (PH, HDR, protractor) Dr. Romo, Lucia (PU, HDR, protractor) Dr. Kern, Laurence (Lecturer, member of the jury) Pr. Melchior, Jean-Claude (PU-PH, member of the jury) Dr. Berthoz, Sylvie (CR1 Inserm, HDR, invited member of the jury). 1 Rizk Melissa – Doctoral thesis - 2015 Abstract Anorexia nervosa is a serious and complex psychiatric pathology included in eating disorders. Its symptoms include physical hyperactivity, which has been associated by many with a worse clinical and therapeutic outcome.
  • Madhuri Vijay's Vivid

    Madhuri Vijay's Vivid

    Featuring 372 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction, Children'sand YA Books KIRKUSVOL. LXXXVII, NO. 4 | 15 FEBRUARY 2019 REVIEWS Madhuri Vijay’s vivid debut novel, The Far Field, moves from Bangalore to a Himalayan village as Shalini, haunted by memories of her restless mother, recounts her painful accumulation of wisdom. Vijay’s goal was to write an unsafe book— something that takes “readers to places that are not the usual places,” she tells us. p. 14 from the editor’s desk: Chairman Excellent February Books HERBERT SIMON President & Publisher BY CLAIBORNE SMITH MARC WINKELMAN # Chief Executive Officer MEG LABORDE KUEHN [email protected] Photo courtesy Michael Thad Carter courtesy Photo Editor-in-Chief Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest CLAIBORNE SMITH Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham (Feb. 5): “In this vivid and [email protected] Vice President of Marketing exhaustive account, Higginbotham…masterfully re-creates the emo- SARAH KALINA [email protected] tions, intrigue, and denials and disbelief of Communist Party officials, Managing/Nonfiction Editor ERIC LIEBETRAU workers, engineers, and others at every stage. He takes readers directly [email protected] Fiction Editor to the scene: the radioactive blaze, the delayed evacuation of residents LAURIE MUCHNICK from the apartment buildings in ‘workers’ paradise’ Pripyat, the treat- [email protected] Children’s Editor ment of the injured, and the subsequent investigation and ‘show trial’ VICKY SMITH [email protected] of scapegoats in a tragedy caused by both reactor failings and operator Young Adult Editor Claiborne Smith LAURA SIMEON errors….Written with authority, this superb book reads like a classic [email protected] Staff Writer disaster story and reveals a Soviet empire on the brink.” MEGAN LABRISE [email protected] Leading Men by Christopher Castellani (Feb.
  • St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380 AD), One of the Earliest Historic Cases of Altered Gustatory Perception in Anorexia Mirabilis

    St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380 AD), One of the Earliest Historic Cases of Altered Gustatory Perception in Anorexia Mirabilis

    St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380 AD), one of the earliest historic cases of altered gustatory perception in anorexia mirabilis Francesco M. Galassi1#, Nicole Bender1#*, Michael E. Habicht1, Emanuele Armocida2, Fabrizio Toscano3, David A. Menassa4, Matteo Cerri5 1 Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich 2 University of Parma, Parma, Italy. 3 University of Siena, Post-Graduate School of Public Health, Siena, Italy 4 Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK 5 Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy # Co-first authors * Correspondence to Dr Nicole Bender, email: [email protected] Email adresses Francesco M. Galassi : [email protected] Nicole Bender : [email protected] Michael Habicht: [email protected] Emanuele Armocida: [email protected] Fabrizio Toscano: [email protected] David Menassa: [email protected] Matteo Cerri: [email protected] Abstract St. Catherine of Siena suffered from an extreme form of holy fasting, a condition classified as anorexia mirabilis (also known as inedia prodigiosa). Historical and medical scholarships alike have drawn a comparison between this primaeval type of anorexia with a relatively common form of eating disorder among young women in the modern world, anorexia nervosa. St. Catherine’s condition was characterized by a disgust for sweet taste, a condition also described in anorexia nervosa, and characterized by specific neurophysiological changes in the brain. St. Catherine’s 1 case may be considered one of the oldest veritable descriptions of altered gustation (dysgeusia).
  • Anorexia Mirabilis: Voluntary Self Starvation and the Role of Spirituality As a Legitimate Response to Sexual Violence

    Anorexia Mirabilis: Voluntary Self Starvation and the Role of Spirituality As a Legitimate Response to Sexual Violence

    Offering Food Receiving Food, Journal of Psychosocial Studies, Special Issue, Volume 10, Issue 2, October 2017 Anorexia Mirabilis: voluntary self starvation and the role of spirituality as a legitimate response to sexual violence ROBYN TIMOCLEA …but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3: 3-5 (NASB, 1971) Introduction This article will explore the experience of voluntary self starvation (VSS) from a historical, spiritual and personal perspective. The phenomenon of VSS has a long history spanning across multiple faiths and cultures (Bemporad, 1996; Bell, 2014; McCarthy-Jones, 2012). From ancient Palestinian mystics to early Catholic reformers, rigid self denial (or asceticism) has been used for centuries as a legitimate way to liberate oneself from egocentricity in order to ‘purify the body and soul’ and achieve temporal influence (Bruch, 1974:11; Meehan, 1993: 59). Bynum (1988) argues that women, in particular, have historically engaged in VSS and asceticism as a way of exerting control over their bodies, enhancing or transcending their social position and challenging dominant patriarchal expectations (Davis & Nguyen, 2014). In juxtaposition with this historical perspective, the current psychiatric paradigm forces us to view extreme VSS (with the exception of protest self starvation) firmly within a pathological, medicalized framework (World Health Organization, 1992).
  • How Are Anorexia Nervosa and Spirituality Connected, and What Implications Does This Have for Treatment? Alexandra Pittock

    How Are Anorexia Nervosa and Spirituality Connected, and What Implications Does This Have for Treatment? Alexandra Pittock

    How are anorexia nervosa and spirituality connected, and what implications does this have for treatment? Alexandra Pittock Anorexia nervosa (hereafter referred to as AN) is the most lethal psychiatric disorder with a mortality rate of between 10-20%.1,2 It is also the most frequent cause of admission to adolescent psychiatric services. This may be in part explained by the severe physical complications of the disorder, namely emaciation as a result of vomiting or starvation. Sadly, recovery rates tend to be low, ranging from 44 - 76%, with many sufferers retaining anorexic symptoms for the rest of their lives. Currently patients with AN are treated using nutritional rehabilitation and psychotherapy. Typically medication is not used in the UK save to treat comorbidities that can commonly arise such as depression.3 One of the defining characteristics of AN is its presence in medical literature for over a thousand years. Reports as early as AD 300 cite women starving themselves to death as form of religious ascetism.4 The link between AN and religion has been addressed many times by different authors and often interesting conclusions arise. However, it is less often tackled in relation to the broader heading of spirituality. In the modern Western world, with its diversity in faith and spiritual practices and beliefs, it would be more accurate to look at AN not just in relation to certain religious beliefs but bearing in mind the overall spirituality of an individual. Psychiatry in the UK is becoming increasingly spiritually aware, seen by the introduction of a Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group in 1999 by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in London.5 Historically, psychiatric care was always given in a spiritual context; the earliest English mental hospital was established in 1247 in the priory of St.